Grant aids employees who lost jobs at Chukchansi Tribe casino


The Chukchansi Gold Resort & Casino in Coarsegold, California. Photo from Facebook

The California Employment Development Department awarded a $500,000 grant to help people who lost jobs at the casino owned by the Picayune Rancheria of the Chukchansi Indians.

More than 1,000 were put out of work when the Chukchansi Gold Resort & Casino. abruptly closed last October. The grant to the Madera County Workforce Investment Board will help people find new jobs.

“The sudden closure of this important local business severely impacted more than 1,000 people who are suddenly without work, and many others whose jobs were dependent on the casino,” EDD Director Patrick W. Henning, Jr. said in a press release. “This grant will provide needed employment resources, such as retraining, résumé writing classes, interview preparation, and job-search services, that will help them secure new jobs as quickly as possible.”

Rival leaders have been fighting for control of the tribe, an issue that led to the closure of the casino. The Bureau of Indian Affairs has recognized one faction as legitimate and this group hopes to reopen the facility.

Get the Story:
State Offers Help to Casino Workers Who Lost Jobs in Violent Tribal Dispute (Courthouse News Service 2/23)
$500,000 will aid ex-casino employees (The Sierra Star 2/18)

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